Salizar Contreras
|birth=December 16th, 2250 |death= |rank=1sr Recon (retired), NCR Scout |class= |species=Human |gender=Male |height=1.96 m (6 5") |weight=120 kg (264.lbs} |weapons=Service rifle |hair=Auburn |eyes=Grey |skin=Light Brown |notable=First NCR soldier in New Vegas. Refused to fire at the Bitter Springs massacre. Holds the record for the longest confirmed sniper kill. |affiliation=New California Republic Army }}Sgt. Salizar Contreras is a NCR veteran scout and the first New Californian to step into the border of , into the Mojave Wasteland. Salizar presently serves as a solo Sergeant and previous 1st Recon Battalion member in 2281. Early life Salizar was born into a large sharecropper and trade settlement surrounding the peninsula. Salizar grew up as a twin with his brother, Danny, in what was northwestern, Mexico. NCR Military service Enlistment After Salizar and Daniel's parents were killed by raiders in 2253, it inspired the young Contreras brothers to follow their ambitions of becoming soldiers. Turned down by official branches of the New California Republic for being underage, the brothers were initiated into militant schooling. A sworn affidavit from their "parents" that falsified their birth dates by a year helped them successfully enlist with the rank of private on June 30th, 2261 in New California. Assigned to the infantry during basic training at Camp Colten, he earned the Marksman Badge with Rifle Clasp and the Expert Badge with Bayonet Clasp. He was then sent to Fort Lautner for advanced infantry training. Initial training Salizar was officially commissioned into the New California Republic in April 2267, at the age of sixteen. Upon completion of The Basic School, Infantry Officer Course and Military Intelligence Officer Basic Course, he was assigned to the 1st Scout Division. Unfortunately, Daniel Contreras failed Military Intelligence and was subjugated into armorer training instead, handling shipments and requisites. Serving at Camp Colten, he assisted as the Company Operations Officer and Reconnaissance Platoon Commander, 1st Platoon, A Company, 1st Reconnaissance Battalion alongside Captain Dharti. In October 2271, he was assigned to scout northeasterly with a recon band of twelve. After a week hike across 400 km, and three loses from violent wildlife and heatstroke, the troopers gazed upon the great , which was inhabited by squabbling tribes. Seeing it as an incredible asset to the Republic, he ordered men to return to the NCR Council to set a petition of annexation as the power output would be immense. ---- Bitter Springs In 2278, after years of being stationed in Camp Golf with the rest of 1st Recon, as it was one of the first NCR establishments in the region; Command hears about a recent Great Khan raiding party retreating to the north-east hills above , but is unaware of the fine details. Salizar, being the best and fastest scout of 1st Recon, is first to sight and follow the Khan’s raid party from afar. The Great Khans are followed into the hills and into a small settlement known as “Bitter Springs”. Reporting it back to the brass at Camp Golf without approaching, fearing detection, Salizar blindly reported to Camp Golf without knowledge of the camps internal aspects. NCR sent envoys and threats to the Khans, all of which were rejected by the tribals. Believing Bitter Springs to just be a Khan raider camp, Major. Gilles petitioned an attack on the encampment: It was certified and orders were set because the NCR was constantly assaulted and raided by the Great Khans, which extremely hindered their expansion of New Vegas. As ordered, Salizar was positioned at Coyote Tail Ridge alongside the other members of 1st Recon. Notably, he was adjacent to Craig Boone and beside Thomas Ellis. When the NCR Army assaulted the camp from the entrance way, 1st Recon was to cover the side passage and fire upon anyone escaping through it. When they heard gunfire echoing throughout the valley, they then noted movement from the passage through scopes and binoculars. Major. Gilles ordered them to fire until they expended all the ammunition they had. Following orders, Salizar was the first to fire his rifle, consequently causing the other members to follow effect; firing until the valley walls deafened with screams and frantic return fire. He hit his first shot, missed his second and injured with his third. When he aimed for his forth shot after rebolting the rifle, Salizar noticed that the target he was marking was smaller than the others, and was in fact a child. He froze in the scope as the little girl, no younger than ten, was shot down as she fired a .32 pistol toward them. Salizar became unresponsive and traumatically distraught at the sight he saw: elderly, women and children, all being mutilated from constant rifle fire. Salizar was an experienced, practiced soldier. He had served in Baja, the Battle of Hoover Dam and in New Vegas for years. He had both seen and experienced death and despair, and he had endured and pulled through explosions himself. And yet it was this unusual, horrific event that was to be his disentanglement. Suffering from ever since, with his always in hyper-arousal, he would sleep with a loaded handgun under his pillow and looked for solace in addictive sleeping pills known as Red-Eye. One of his former squad mates who had taken part in the annihilation of Bitter Springs ended up taking his own life over his guiltiness, right in front of him, placing a pistol below his chin and firing. This incident prompted Salizar to reconsider his upcoming reenlistment. After careful thought, Salizar ultimately left the NCR and traveled to The Hub for some down time in 2278, four days after the massacre. Tactician career In October, he was reassigned to the NCR Warfighting Laboratory, where he served as the Reconnaissance and Sniper Project Officer. During this assignment, he developed tactics, techniques and procedures for urban reconnaissance operations and squad advanced marksman concepts. He participated in numerous urban combined arms experiments and the training of New Californian trooper units, notably 6 of Spades. Deploying in support of Hoover Dam. Weapon Weapon Name Image Skill Damage Damage per Shot(DMG/shot) Damage per Second(DPS) Rate of Fire(RPS) Area of Effect(AOE) Weapon Spread(spread) Critical Multiplier(Crit % mult) Item HP Ammo Type Capacity Weight Category:Characters